It is well understood in the automobile industry that automobiles function most efficiently once all fluids are circulating within the automobile systems at their optimum operating temperatures. For instance, heat exchangers for warming/cooling engine oil and transmission oil are known and are often incorporated into automobile systems in order to ensure that the fluids operate within the desired temperature range.
Axle oil and/or manual transmission oil are fluids within automobile systems that benefit from warming and/or cooling in order to reduce the warm-up time of the oil at start-up in order to bring the oil to optimal operating temperature quickly thereby increasing the overall fuel economy of the vehicle. Axle oil and/or manual transmission oil also benefit from cooling once the fluid has reached its desired operating temperature in order to protect not only the oil but to protect the components through which the oil circulates.
Heat exchangers for warming/cooling oil that are located outside of the housing of a power and torque transfer unit typically require an oil pump to flow the oil from within the housing to the externally located heat exchanger. Accordingly, heat exchangers mounted externally to the housing of a power and torque transfer unit often require additional components resulting in a more complex and costly warming/cooling system that occupies more space within the automobile.
Heat exchangers can also be located inside the housing of a power and torque transfer unit to allow for more direct contact between the heat exchanger and the oil circulating within the housing without requiring the addition of a pump. However, conventional flat plate stacked heat exchangers are often difficult to package inside the housing of power and torque transfer units due to the nature of the geometry of the housing.
Differential housings and manual transmission housings often present challenges in terms of providing warming and/or cooling to the axle oil or transmission oil circulating within the respective housings due to the complex geometry of the housing and the gear systems enclosed within them. Accordingly, there is a need for heat exchanger systems that can be more easily packaged within housings of automobile power and torque transfer components that have more complex geometry as a means for providing warming and/or cooling functions to various automobile fluids that circulate within these types of housings in an effort to provide compact and cost-effective solutions with a view to improving overall efficiency of the vehicle.